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KU Leuven

A goal-directed perspective on alcohol and gambling addiction

2025-03-01 (Europe/Brussels)
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About the employer

KU Leuven is an autonomous university. It was founded in 1425. It was born of and has grown within the Catholic tradition.

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The Faculty of Psychology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) are seeking two highly motivated PhD candidates to contribute to the research project “Unraveling the Mechanisms of Rigidity: A Goal-directed Perspective on Alcohol and Gambling Addiction”.
This unique opportunity involves one doctoral position at KU Leuven and another at ULB under the supervision of Agnes Moors (KU Leuven) and Xavier Noël (ULB). Successful candidates will join a dynamic, interdisciplinary team dedicated to advancing the understanding and treatment of addiction-related behaviors.

Project

Project: This research investigates addiction through the lens of a goal-directed framework, highlighting how biases in discrepancy detection and action selection contribute to addictive behaviors. The biases we will study are (a) increased sensitivity to goal-discrepant events, leading to inflated negative affect, (b) an inflated expectancy that the addictive behavior will help regulate this negative affect, and (c) the persistence of this expectancy after contradicting evidence. 
The methodology combines behavioral experiments and neuroscientific paradigms that allow for the measurement of discrepancies, affect, and expectancies in both direct and indirect ways, including self-report, implicit measures, and electroencephalograpy (EEG). 

Profile

  • Master’s degree in Psychology or Neuroscience.
  • Experience in conducting experimental research.
  • Strong interest in theory related to addiction and goal-directed behavior.
  • Experience with, or a willingness to learn, neuroscientific methods such as EEG.
  • Experience with, or a willingness to learn, essential coding (e.g., Python, MATLAB, R) 
  • Excellent English communication skills 

Offer

Two four-year PhD positions: one at KU Leuven, the other at ULB. For both positions, you can apply using the KU Leuven platform. 

Application Deadline: March 01, 2025.
Start of doctoral appointment: between June 1 and October 1, 2025.

https://psymed.ulb.be/research/?lang=en

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. Agnes Moors, tel.: +32 16 37 32 79, mail: agnes.moors@kuleuven.be or Xavier Noël, mail: xavier.noel@ulb.be

KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.

Job details

Title
A goal-directed perspective on alcohol and gambling addiction
Employer
Location
Oude Markt 13 Leuven, Belgium
Published
2025-01-13
Application deadline
2025-03-01 23:59 (Europe/Brussels)
2025-03-01 23:59 (CET)
Job type
PhD
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About the employer

KU Leuven is an autonomous university. It was founded in 1425. It was born of and has grown within the Catholic tradition.

Visit the employer page